survivors of ia drang valley
The Ia Drang Valley is where the U.S. truly went to war. I marked off 65 names and that's when it really hit me what had happened and it just overwhelmed me. "I can't even begin to explain it," he said. Her mother, who never remarried, died in 1986. He left the Army in October 1966, and went home to his native Ohio, where he works as a carpenter. A Chicago native, Doc Carrara returned home, changed his specialty to pathology. Battalions would use helicopters to be transferred in and out as artillery support came in from above. (U.S. Army). He went home to Anderson County, South Carolina, where he is a deputy sheriff. His helicopter came under intense enemy fire, but they continued to carry out the wounded, even though that wasnt their mission. In the last operation, his shattered left knee joint was removed and the leg bones fused, leaving his left leg frozen straight and two inches shorter than his right leg. BROWN, Thomas W. (Tim), seventy-three, the 3rd Brigade commander in the Ia Drang, retired a brigadier general in 1973, after thirty-plus years of service and a second tour in Vietnam, with two Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars from his three wars. The battalion commander had ordered his command helicopter to land and check out a North Vietnamese soldier killed by the door gunner. However, Americans killed an estimated 1,800 North Vietnamese, through rifles, artillery, helicopters, and jets. The majority of the battle was fought in the valley of Ia Drang, Vietnam by 3rd Battalion, 7th Calvary and was the first major test of air . I pulled the muscles in that leg so badly yanking it free that I couldnt walk for three months, he said. He lives in Falls, Pennsylvania. No one wanted to look weak in the face of communist aggression.. Returning home, he single-handedly raised his two young children while earning two masters degrees. The North Vietnamese Army starts with the most flags but to combat this the 7th Cavalry Regiment has superior airpower meaning that the USA can quickly insert and extract players into and out of flags. Fifty years ago today, one of the Vietnam war's most ferocious battles broke out in the Ia Drang Valley. "When things started it just erupted," Lawrence said. Although the fighting had ended, the Battle of Ia Drang didnt officially conclude until the next day, as it took two days to collect the bodies. Moore considered the outcome a draw. A miserly, ungrateful Veterans Administration ruled that Shadden was only thirty percent disabled. He is a consultant to industries seeking defense business. She received both her bachelor of arts degree in history, and her master of arts degree in history from Western University. He is married and has a daughter in college and a son in the U.S. Marines. Through good fortune, the enemy's ignorance of their predicament, Specialist Lose's first-aid knowledge . Karen works part-time as a freelance designer and helps with her husbands construction and contracting business. For Lawrence, telling the story of LZ Albany is not only a way to keep the memory of those who died alive, but also a way to educate others. "The emotions are so high, the noise is tremendous, the confusion is everywhere; they had overrun us by now. UH-1 aircraft of the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion carry wounded 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry soldiers away during the fight for LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam. Today he lives in Riverside, Rhode Island, is in the photo business, and is active in veterans affairs. Westmorelands recommendation for more troops carried the day even as Johnson and his advisers privately questioned prospects for success. For a number of years he was a country-and-western band leader and disc jockey. As the fighting around Landing Zone X-Ray subsided, McDades 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was ordered to move cross-country to Landing Zone Albany, where it was to be picked up by helicopter and moved to a new location. We were caught inside of what was essentially an L-shaped ambush.". The living, wounded and dead of the first and second battalions of the US 7th Cavalry were flown back to their bases, given fresh food and clothes, and reformed for another day of fighting. He owns a property-management firm in Tampa, Florida. Then he somehow managed to crawl away, saying that he was going to organize the troops. He now lives in Dublin, New Hampshire, and works for a firm that sells office supplies. He underwent four operations on his shattered hip and then was shipped home for discharge on December 21, 1965, ten days overdue on his two-year hitch and judged fifty percent disabled. It is laced with hard facts, observations, anger, sadness and even some humor. Of the 500 men present as part of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 155 lost their lives, and just 84 were immediately able to return to active duty. He was paralyzed. He was presented with the Medal of Honor on December 19, 1966, and three years later volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam. Im not supposed to chop wood or do anything that might cause a lick on that side of my head, but it healed up pretty well so I dont worry much about it, he says. Knowles has served in the New Mexico legislature since 1982. Crandall won the first Helicopter Heroism Award of the Aviation/Space Writers Association, for two daring nighttime landings under fire to rescue twelve badly wounded troopers from Captain Tony Nadals Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in Operation Masher-White Wing in January 1966. Companies C and D took the brunt of the Communist attack, and most of the men were quickly hit. This was the first major engagement between the United States Army and the North Vietnamese Army. Hear Walters story. He retired a lieutenant colonel in 1977 and returned to Georgia, where he is an executive for a trucking firm. Joseph Galloway was a civilian reporter at the Battle of Ia Drang. Today he is an orchestra leader and serves in the state militia. They were platoon leaders together in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. He spent seven months there while his shattered thigh and legs were repaired. To me that seems proper, and just, and so right.. By the end, there were no officers left and only 49 men that were not wounded. Surprisingly, Adams, Beck's buddy who was shot in the head, was among the. Why I wasn't killed, I couldn't say.". The Battle of the Ia Drang Valley would be the Vietnam War's first major set-piece battle with the PAVN, the first major US heliborne assault on an NVA position, and the first engagement to employ B-52 airstrikes on enemy ground forces in battle. 1965, just after the start of the U.S. campaign that led to the Ia Drang Valley. ROLAND, William, forty-nine, rifle-squad leader, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry at X-Ray, returned to Vietnam for a second combat tour. Major Bruce Crandall made over 20 flights into intense enemy fire during a battle in the Ia Drang Valley, South Vietnam, in November 1965, evacuating 70 wounded and delivering ammunition. He was first sergeant of Bravo Company, 36th Engineer Battalion and one of 14 men in his 257-man company who survived the opening stages of the fight for Pork Chop Hill. Linda Carole Mustion has not added any memorials to this virtual cemetery. The following is a partial accounting, prepared in 1992, of where some of them are and what they have done with their lives: ADAMS, Russell, fifty-one, machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, helps run the family dairy farm on five hundred acres outside Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania. His dissertation is on the LZ Albany battle. From the lack of training and understanding of the situation to the haphazard way they conducted their movement and their halt. Crandall and Freeman successfully rescued some 70 wounded men. About 40 minutes later, North Vietnamese launched their attack, hiding in the tall elephant grass and in stands of trees. To replenish his battered forces, the North Vietnamese commander ordered the 2,000 soldiers of his reserve regiment, the 66th, forward from its staging area in Cambodia into the Ia Drang valley. The Battle of Ia Drang Still Matters - War Is Boring. Crandall continued to fly into and out of the landing zone throughout the day and into the evening. Theres certainly politics involved in it, but I do think these guys, as mythological as it turned out to be, were true Cold War believers. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. Lt. Don Cornett along with 154 Troopers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment were killed in the Ia Drang Valley, Nov. 17, 1965, at a small clearing known as Landing Zone Albany. For the next ten years he was a football coach at Morgan State University in Baltimore, his alma mater. KNOWLES, Richard, seventy-five, assistant division commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, served a second consecutive tour in Vietnam, commanded the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, and then was commanding general of Task Force Oregon (precursor to the American Division). Charlie Company took the brunt of the assault. James T. Lawrence, a first lieutenant in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, learned a lesson in leadership the hard way 50 years ago. AINSWORTH, Hank, fifty-four, who flew the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav command helicopter in the Ia Drang, retired a chief warrant officer 4 on May 30, 1977, after twenty-two years service. Book Sources: The Battle of Ia Drang Valley We were soldiers once -and young : Ia Drang, the battle that changed the war in Vietnam by Ha Moore; Joseph Galloway Call Number: Boca Raton General Collection DS557.8.I18 M66 1992 ISBN: 0679411585 Publication Date: 1992-10-20 Everyman in Vietnam by Michael Adas; Joseph J. Gilch After several routine lifts into the area, https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/857/ELIAS-ALVAREZ-BUZO/, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK63b6Cn53unPuhknan6Y4fJwl-F5v14o, https://www.vvmf.org/The-Wall-That-Heals/, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK63b6Cn53unMMj-yZYEch0RuYy1YN1zl, https://vvmf.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/he-spent-14-hours-in-the-air-rescuing-wounded-in-the-ia-drang-valley/, https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/vietnam-stories/1965/ia-drang-valley-where-the-us-truly-went-to-war-1.376662, https://www.facebook.com/VietnamVeteransMemorialFund/videos/2239219906358006/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLyBazkpUFQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx1rzDNcFmE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKtWX9TDFYc, https://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/vietnam-war/the-battle-of-la-drang/2071462322001, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIAEcZ29aG4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDYNI7V0co, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7-U0FBiYUU, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/battle-la-drang-valley, https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/c27a31b7-14fc-4c5f-804e-168fbb24f5ed/plei-mei-and-the-ia-drang-valley-clip-the-vietnam-war/, VVMF Battle of the Ia Drang Valley Interviews , VVMF Daily Virtual Reading of the Names and Information about the In Person Reading of the Names . In March 1991 he found a new purpose in life: meeting the chartered airliners touching down at Bangor International Airport, the first American landfall, bringing American soldiers home from the Persian Gulf. It was his positive decision to do something that reinforced my own will to go on.". 2 Ia Drang also served as a test for the U.S. military of its new air mobility tactics. Galen Bungum, 72, was a soldier in the Vietnam War and fought in the first major battle of the war, the battle of Ia Drang, on November 14, 1965. Assigned as the operations officer of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry, Diduryk was killed in action on April 24, 1970, in a Huey helicopter at an abandoned fire base near the Cambodian border. TIFFT, Richard P., Pathfinder team leader in LZ X-Ray, later served as commander of the Golden Knights, the Armys parachute team. I couldnt grasp it., More from us: Val Kilmer Accidentally Landed Matthew Modine the Starring Role in Full Metal Jacket. Next, he was shot in the chest; as he moved around, he was shot again in the leg. He was evacuated, via Clark Field, to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver. Within an hour, they came under attack for the first time by North Vietnamese regulars, launching a four-day battle that killed hundreds of Americans and perhaps more than 1,000 Vietnamese and changed the course of the Vietnam War. Although each survivor's story is unique, they all carry the same lessons. 1965 was the year America took the gloves off in Vietnam, moving from advising and assisting the South Vietnamese military to an active combat role. BEAN, Roger, fifty-two, Huey pilot who was wounded in LZ X-Ray, was wounded again in early 1966 in the Bong Son campaign. He is a master gunsmith and runs his own business repairing and selling weapons. On 27 October Westmoreland committed a brigade of the 1st Air Cavalry to search-and-destroy operations. In the fall of 1965 the Vietnam War was an event most Americans saw as a series of smaller battles leaving little to remember. Some of them had blood on their faces from scratches and from other guys' wounds. He and his wife, Kornelia, live in Columbus, Georgia, where for several years Scott taught military subjects to Junior ROTC in the high schools. His awards include the Combat Infantrymans Badge with two stars; two Silver Stars; two Bronze Stars; four Purple Hearts; a Master Parachutist Badge with five combat-jump stars; a European Theater Service ribbon with eight campaign stars and four invasion arrows; a Korean Service ribbon with three campaign stars and one invasion arrow; a Vietnam Service ribbon with one silver and three bronze campaign stars; and the Presidential Unit Citation badge. BARTHOLOMEW, Roger J. A wounded soldier of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, is attended to by fellow comrades during the fight for LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley of Vietnam. Freeman won a battlefield commission in the Korean War. LZ Albany is essentially two clearings with a large copse of trees in the middle. Vince Cantu never went back to his music. Both later were awarded the Medal of Honor, our nations highest award for heroism in combat. The North Vietnamese attempt one final attack, but are soon overrun and ordered to evacuate the headquarters they took only a few days prior. Finally, after 10 months, had some makeshift buildings. They didnt discover I was a doctor until the day I was dischargedwhen I had a long talk with them about treating their patients like pieces of meat. He was discharged in November 1966, and wound up in Boston in 1981. The late Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, author of We Were Soldiers Onceand Young, is said to have closed every speech with the phrase, "Hate the war, love the American warrior." You need a Find a Grave account to continue. Outnumbered when they arrive, the men are forced to fight for their lives while eliminating the 4,000-strong North Vietnamese force. The secondary plot follows Julia, who volunteers to deliver telegrams informing families of their loved ones deaths in Vietnam. He remained with the medical platoon in Vietnam until July 1966. One of the most significant battles of the Vietnam War, the 14-16 November 1965 battle in the Ia Drang Valley in South Vietnam's central highlands between the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and the 33rd and 66th Regiments of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) marked a watershed change in the military strategies of both sides. Setelin is president of the Major General George W. Casey chapter of the 1st Cavalry Division Association and a member of the national associations board of trustees. I couldn't grasp it.". He was evacuated, badly wounded, on January 5, 1970, after serving four years, eight months, and ten days in Vietnam. Rescorla kept the battered French Army bugle he captured on the field at Albany; in 1991 he turned it over to the Ia Drang Alumni for use in memorial ceremonies. Although he was a civilian, Galloway was awarded the Bronze Star medal for helping to rescue wounded soldiers during the battle. Some of the men who hadn't slept for close to 48 hours closed their eyes, others smoked or ate. I ask that question every day. I didn't do as I should have.". "The XO let out a low moan, and his head sank. By Trevor Arendall, July 9 . A Broken Arrow was declared over the radio by the Battalion Forward Air Controller, which meant that an American unit was in imminent danger of being overrun. Lt. Don Cornett along with 154 Troopers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment were killed in the Ia Drang Valley, Nov. 17, 1965, at a small clearing known as Landing Zone Albany. By whatever measure, the chaotic, bloody Battle of the Ia Drang Valley set the tone for the rest of war. Don Cornett had a wife and a son, a mother and a father and two sisters. Contrary to popular belief, the Battle of Ia Drang started and ended after the famous landings at LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany. The battlefield area covered 1,500 square miles of what appeared to be flat rolling terrain dominated by the Chu Pong . 311 memorials He is partly paralyzed as a result of his terrible wound. He told me his wife's name was [Sylvia]. Baker, who was less than a foot away from me, was screaming that I was in charge and that I had to do something," he said. He assumed that like the French, the Americans would tire of seeing their young men coming home in body bags. He added a masters degree in Latin American studies to his M.A. (U.S. Army). Carrara says, I dont dwell on Vietnam, but now and then I hear something or smell something and flash back to those days. Later, after he was evacuated the doctors thought his spine was severed, but discovered later that he had a severely bruised spine from the force of the bullets whipping his head back. He and his wife, Arlene, have three sonsa banker in Sao Paulo, Brazil; a lawyer in Connecticut; and a divinity student in college. Combat operations at Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam, November 1965. They had this Learning to be a Teacher program; I tried it and loved it. When he retired, Howard moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he works as a consultant in emergency-management planning. He retired from the Army as a master sergeant and, in 1988, became the pastor of a church in Fort Mitchell, Alabama. He checked in with the nearest Veterans Administration hospital; they sent him home, telling him they would call him back for an operation to place a plate over the hole. Alpha Company arrived in Vietnam with 146 officers and men. Unknown to them at the time, they were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops. The plane hit several tombstones and flipped over. He is married and the father of two children. Most of the planes touched down between midnight and six A.M., but George Nye was always there, rain or shine. Alex Kolyer for MPR News On this Veterans Day,. They never did. The battle was later dramatized in the film We Were Soldiers. Weve updated the security on the site. South Carolina, Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. He was made famous by the account of his actions during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965, the Americans' first major battle of the Vietnam War. The survivors of the Ia Drang on November 14, 1965 to Nov 1965 on Nov. 14 with men. Hal Moore ensured that all of the men came home, and they therefore did . He is married and has four children. Since August 1990, he has been the dean of students and basketball coach at St. Mary Rynken Catholic High School in Leonardtown, Maryland, his hometown. On November 14, 1965, 450 American soldiers of the 1st Air Cavalry Division were airlifted by helicopter to this valley with the intention of locating and eliminating North Vietnamese forces. His personalized license plate proclaims: LZ X-Ray. USA, West Point, The North Vietnamese regulars, young men who had been drafted into the military much as the young American men had been, had paid a much higher price to test the newcomers to an old fight: an estimated 3,561 of them had been killed, and thousands more wounded, in the 34-day Ia Drang campaign. His widow, Emma Lee, lives in Austin, Texas. This resulted in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, a forested area just east of the Chu Pong massif, from 23 October to 20 November. DIDURYK, Myron F., commander of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cav in LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany, completed his tour in Vietnam with Bravo Company in 1966, and later returned to Vietnam and the 1st Air Cavalry Division as a major. The bulk of the fighting lasted about 6 hours and in that time 2/7 Cav lost 155 killed and 124 wounded. FREEMAN, Ed (Too Tall to Fly), sixty-five, Bruce Crandalls wingman, retired a major in 1967 after twenty-one years Army service. A total of 305 soldiers died. He was in a great deal of pain, so a rifleman named Wilson and I removed his gear as best we could, and I bandaged his wound. . He retired in August 1977, with thirty-two years service. in history. He married in 1981 and is the father of four daughters: an eight-year-old, a five-year-old, and infant twins. He and his wife, Nell, now are retired and living in Shoal Creek, Alabama. They and their buddies fought off hundreds of North Vietnamese with the help of artillery. USA, Scranton, In Hanoi, the North Vietnamese leadership was prepared for huge losses. Survivors described savage, close-range combat, sometimes hand-to-hand, over several hours. After a North Vietnamese strike against the Special Forces camp at Plei Me, American forces deployed in an effort to destroy the attackers. 208-263-9534. After three days of fighting, 240 Americans had been killed and another 300 wounded (more troops were brought in in support). Battle of Ia Drang American troops in the Ia Drang Valley, November 1965. Col. Bruce Crandall, Commander ofCompany A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), led the first major division operation of airmobile troops into Landing Zone X-Ray. Among the many survivors of the ambush was 1st Lt. Rick Rescorla, a platoon chief who died Sept. 11, 2001, rescuing individuals from the World Commerce Heart's south tower till it crashed round him. 3 /5. BECK, Bill, forty-nine, assistant machine gunner, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cav in the Ia Drang, left the Army in 1966 and went home to his native Steelton, Pennsylvania. PUJALS, Enrique, fifty, platoon leader, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry in the Ia Drang, woke up on an X-ray table first, then on a C-141 ambulance plane, and finally in Ward One at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. This battle took place from 11-14-1965, thru 11-18-1965. Unlike Viet Cong guerrillas, the northerners were prepared to stand and fight. Resend Activation Email. WALLACE, Bruce M. Jr., sixty-one, Air Force A-IE Skyraider pilot over the Ia Drang, served two more tours in Vietnam and retired a colonel in 1976. JEKEL, Alex (Pop), seventy, Huey pilot in X-Ray and Albany, retired in the late 1960s as a chief warrant officer-4. The real life Battle of Ia Drang took place between November 14-19, 1965. CRANDALL, Bruce, fifty-nine, who commanded the helicopters in the Ia Drang Valley, returned to Vietnam for a second tour in 1967. Nebraska, Lawrence's story is one that he has told so often to so many people that it is fluid and impactful without being rehearsed. Ia Drang set the blueprint for the Vietnam War with the Americans relying on air mobility, artillery fire and close air support, while the PAVN neutralized that firepower by quickly engaging American forces at very close range. PAOLONE, Ernest E., Bob Edwardss radio operator, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, died of a massive heart attack on March 30, 1992, at the age of fifty. The idea was that whole battalions could be dropped and complete their mission on the ground, calling in artillery barrages, helicopter support, and bombing sorties (including . Easy. Douglas County, We . The Pleiku Campaign took place from 20 October to 26 . 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